Making quills for quill bodies?

[blakejd 0]

I've read about the process so my only question is what type of feathers to use. Should I pick up some cheap indian or chineese necks. What do people usually consider to work the best.

[Dustin Guyette 0]

i would go with the indian or chinese hackles

 

DON'T use dry fly saddle hackles, because the quills are too thin

[narcodog 0]

For my red quill's I use Rhode Island Red rooster capes. I get them from detteflies.com Be sure to soak the feathers before you strip and wrap the quills.

[gaeronf 0]

Get the artificial quills from performance flies.

[rockworm 0]

Whiting sells a Quill Body Cape for just this purpose. The larger feathers from a dry fly cape also make pretty good stripped quills. And I understand capon feathers (if you can find them) are excellent.

[blakejd 0]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll look into those.

Josh

[Chad Trout 0]

Performance Flies will also be carrying the Polish Peacock Quills here in the near future. And he will have bunch of their Quills perfect making quill bodies.

 

check out http://www.polishquills.com/

 

 

[Johny Utah 0]

I just buy strung Chinese hackle. Its cheap for a lot. Easy to strip. Easy to dye. I wouldnt bother with fly shop strung hackle though, its way over priced.

 

[blakejd 0]

I just buy strung Chinese hackle. Its cheap for a lot. Easy to strip. Easy to dye. I wouldnt bother with fly shop strung hackle though, its way over priced.

Yeah thats why I was asking. 3.00 for a pack of 25 is crazy in my opinion.

[Johny Utah 0]

check ebay and other craft vendors on-line and look for hackle "fringe"

[kerusso 0]

I don't know what you will be tying but there are a couple of substitutes that can be used in place of a hackle stem. I have used moose mane (the long stuff, 4-5 inches) and bleached it and dyed it with good success. Stripped peacock also works well. The easiest way to strip peacock is a water/clorox solution (3/2 cup ratio); after a 5-6 minute soak the stems lose all the "fluff". Grabbing the stems by the butts and agitating them several times through the process also helps. After the eyes are ready rinse them very good. I then use a standard hair conditioner and work it into the eyes all together for several minutes then rinse again. This aids in the eyes not becoming so brittle. If you are tying larger flies try using some "Fireline" for segmentation; I have used it a lot this year and find the flies to be almost indestructable. Good luck.

[H.Marksman 0]

I have tied with chicken and turkey, and I find the turkey far better.

 

I took a class with AK this year, and he convinced me to switch to turkey and make my own. The experiment should start in the garage over the next few months.